In a warehouse setting or other similar setting, goods are often stored on shelves of rack structures in an organized manner for later retrieval. When a purchasing order or shipping order is received, a picker travels throughout the warehouse to retrieve the item or items listed on the order form. The picked items can then be packed, shipped, or delivered to a customer.
An organizational system is used in such a storage facility to identify the inventory items and the location of those items within the facility. Often, information is printed on a product sheet (e.g., a paper form or card) that is attached to the racks where the items are stored. The picker can then match information on the product sheet (or information on the inventory item itself) with information on the order form.
For example, FIG. 1 shows a conventional system 10 for identifying stored items in a storage facility. The conventional system 10 includes a rack structure 12 for supporting a plurality of items. The rack structure 12 includes a framework consisting of vertical supports 14 and shelves 16. The rack structure 12 may be configured to support a plurality of bins 18, which are placed on the shelves 16. The bins 18 are usually configured to store small items. Larger items may be more easily stored without the use of bins 18. The bins 18 may have various sizes and shapes as needed to contain one or more items of a specific type. In order to identify the various items, the system 10 includes product sheets 20 or other printed material. The product sheets 20 may be attached to the rack structure 12 on the vertical supports 14 and/or the shelves 16 in the vicinity of the specific items. The product sheets 20 may also be attached to the bins 18.
Although the product sheets 20 are meant to ensure that the correct items are picked, a large number of picking errors still occurs. One reason for the errors may be that pickers in such a system are required to visually observe three things at about the same time (i.e., the product information on the order form, the corresponding product information on the product sheet, and the product itself). Pickers may get distracted or read information incorrectly, leading to errors.
Voice-directed picking is a method that uses audio instructions for directing the picker to pick the correct items. For example, the picker may wear a headset that is connected to a portable computer device. By adding audio instructions to the picking process, the picker has one less thing to visually observe. In addition, the headset may include a microphone that allows the picker to provide feedback to confirm that the correct item was picked. For example, the picker may read back some of the information printed on the product sheets 112, such as a number of check-digits. One issue that may cause picking errors using voice-directed picking, however, is that a picker might memorize the check-digits for some of the common items and attempt to speak the check-digits from memory. In other cases, a picker may simply read the check-digits incorrectly.
As a result of picking errors, incorrect items may be shipped to the customers, leading to inventory inaccuracies. Also, extra time is needed to correct any issues, which is a waste of personnel time. Furthermore, incorrect picking may also lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Therefore, a need exists for improving the way in which items are retrieved or picked from a warehouse or storage facility. The present invention provides systems and methods that improve upon the item-picking processes already in existence in order to attempt to further reduce the number of picking errors.